116: Chapter 36: Killing by Turning Back 116: Chapter 36: Killing by Turning Back Huang Ouguang realized that when Xiang Shan didn’t bring back the heads of those government hounds, he knew what their fates had been.

Strangely enough, after being certain of Deborah’s death, her mind had cleared up a lot.

She wanted to ask what the woman’s final moments were like, but Xiang Shan seemed to be in a terrible mood.

He remained silent, just waving her off to stay aside.

Huang Ouguang wasn’t overly fixated on this.

After all, the Martial Ancestor had believed that no crime was beyond redemption by death, no hatred was beyond resolution by death—thus, the harshest punishment ceased with death.

Pursuing extra physical torment on an enemy was meaningless.

Hatred toward the dead was also meaningless.

If one truly hated a person, after killing that person, it sufficed to simply forget them and then live one’s own life well.

Any hatred beyond that was irrational.

With these thoughts, Huang Ouguang focused on taking care of his senior brother.

Xiang Shan, on the other hand, sat on the “Mule,” occasionally applying some coolant.

When marching at night, it was essential to ensure that the vehicle’s temperature did not exceed the ambient temperature too much.

Toward the latter half of the night, in the sky near the zenith, a number of meteors suddenly appeared, sweeping toward the area where Xiang Shan had just battled.

Seconds later, they felt a slight tremor in the ground.

“Hmm, we left just in time.

The traces will be erased by the shockwaves stirred up by the kinetic weapons.” Xiang Shan shrugged, “The remaining lackeys of Wild Myth probably can’t rebuild the Great Stockade now.”

He then returned to the vehicle and said, “We don’t have to worry about being pursued by hounds for a while.

Do you guys need anything?”

Huang Ouguang was a bit bashful, “Well… Senior, my brother might need a new prosthetic body.”

“Hmm, that’s not difficult.

If there’s one thing we have enough of here, it’s prosthetic bodies.”

Along the way, Xiang Shan had killed quite a few from the Green Forest, and there were always a few Martial Artists whose necks he twisted cleanly, keeping their limbs and torso intact.

Assembling a basic Martial Artist Prosthesis was quite easy.

Just consider it as a roadside rescue of Jianghu.

Huang Ouguang was deeply moved, “Thank you, Senior!”

Xiang Shan evaluated this Hero, whose tone was quite feminine, and whose voice print was also female.

[Although in most cases, a person will match these characteristics to their original gender, aligning with the brain’s primal instincts, relying on these assumptions to determine a person’s gender really isn’t reliable] This prosthetic body was very close to a human body— to some extent, this was a sign of low Martial Arts prowess.

It indicated that her brain was still only capable of controlling a body very close to the original human configuration.

Of course, it was also possible that the prosthetic’s joints had a high degree of freedom, and could perform in unimaginable angles when needed — colloquially speaking, it was like playing dumb to catch the wise.

Thinking this, Xiang Shan pulled over a prosthetic body and quietly began to dismantle it.

For a while, there was only the sound of the “Mule’s” tracks crushing the soil, mixed with the slight sounds of metal collisions and frictions from Xiang Shan’s hands.

A moment later, Xiang Shan asked, “Do you and that official family’s daughter have any personal vendetta?”

Huang Ouguang didn’t hide anything and recounted the grudges between Redstone Gate and Deborah.

It wasn’t a very complicated story.

A person from the government, hiding under a disguised identity online, pretending to be a self-taught newcomer to Jianghu, infiltrated a neither large nor small Sect.

Xiang Shan scratched his head, “No, I have to say, isn’t your Sect a bit too non-vigilant?

What era is it to still organize offline gatherings?

And the entire Sect together?

No wonder it was wiped out in one go.”

Huang Ouguang shivered, then forced himself to say, “Senior, don’t you also bring along two flesh-and-blood children?”

“Hey, they’re disciples I took in temporarily, how can that be the same?” Xiang Shan dismantled a mainboard and wiped off some silicone with his finger, “Nowadays, what message can’t be transmitted online?

Why the need for offline gatherings?”

“Senior, you know the answer,” Although Huang Ouguang wanted to cry, he was unwilling to tarnish the reputation of Redstone Gate, “In Jianghu, righteousness comes first.

If it weren’t for that major issue, the leader of Redstone Gate would absolutely not leave the Arctic Circle, let alone summon disciples from all over.”

“We gathered dispersed disciples to form a united martial force, solely for the sake of Jianghu righteousness, why press so hard, Senior?”

Xiang Shan was a bit puzzled, “A major issue?”

“The New World is sparsely populated and its products are withering, even the local Gene Bank’s defense forces are feeble; the main forces of Jianghu people are all in the Old World, especially those space elevator ports in low-latitudes,” Huang Ouguang said, “Earth Heroes are now racking their brains, just aiming for a stable space channel.”

“A Hero of your level, Senior, would either be in East Asia, West Asia, or in central Africa, and would not run to the New World for no reason.”

Xiang Shan pondered for a moment.

He actually wanted to say, “I’ve been in recluse for a long time, and only recently decided to walk in Jianghu again,” and so on.

But what’s certain is that this version of Jianghu, although very similar to what he saw on TV shows when he was young, definitely wouldn’t popularize that line.

The reason is simple.

Every one of those famous in Jianghu was an Internal Strength Master.

Have you ever heard of a geek who doesn’t go online?

It was clearly impossible for such a person to exist!

He could only stammer, “I’ve been tormented by a nemesis for the past year and haven’t been online much.

I don’t know what’s happened.”

Huang Ouguang said, “Even the skills of a senior can…”

“If I were truly invincible under the heavens, how could I have escaped so quickly?” Xiang Shan pulled out an independent chip and set it aside.

“True.

Even the Martial Ancestor was ‘The Only Defeat in Ten Thousand Battles,’ after all.” Huang Ouguang sighed, “And what other martial artists genuinely have invincibility?”

— “The Only Defeat in Ten Thousand Battles”?

The title sounded imposing, but why did it feel so piercing…

Xiang Shan couldn’t help but pull out a small resistor.

“Senior?”

“It’s nothing.

Keep talking.

What happened?”

“About a year ago, a great battle occurred in the Jupiter region, and many from the Earth Heroes used astronomical telescopes to witness the explosive flashes of that battle.

It was said that a great senior was defeated in that fight.

But supposedly with the help of ‘Turing’s’ internal strength cultivation, the government couldn’t capture him…”

Xiang Shan suddenly opened the top door of the “Mule” and glanced at the starry sky.

The built-in sextant automatically filtered out artificial satellites and then located Mars and Jupiter.

“I see… If it was a year ago, Earth would indeed have been closer to Jupiter than Mars is to Jupiter.”

Xiang Shan nodded, “And then?

He ended up here?”

Huang Ouguang nodded, “That great senior must be a Famed Hero, possibly even an Old Hero active before the Ascension War.

But now he’s seriously injured…

the local gene bank’s guards are all involved in the manhunt…

Half a year ago, our Redstone Gate was the first to arrive here, hoping to aid this Old Hero.”

Xiang Shan curiously asked, “What’s that ‘Old Hero’s’ name?”

Based on the “common knowledge” he had extracted from the brains of several people from Green Forest, the martial ancestor was active until the end of the Ascension War.

Hence, if it were an Old Hero who existed before the Ascension War, he might know him.

However…

He didn’t know whether he should be expecting Huang Ouguang to spit out a familiar name now.

Huang Ouguang shook his head, “That…

we don’t know.”

Xiang Shan was shocked, “You don’t know?

You trust them without knowing?

And dared to come?”

“According to private channels from our sect elders, that great senior had a special badge marked on a small forum,” Huang Ouguang explained.

“Although we are unsure who it is, it’s definitely an Old Hero.”

If Xiang Shan still had a heart, it would have surely started thumping wildly.

But he didn’t.

So Huang Ouguang had no idea how the “Old Senior” across from him was feeling.

She continued, “Originally, we didn’t fully believe Deborah either.

But…

she indeed was the only Hero who declared her location as Pine Eagle City.

And…

thinking back, it seems the local gene bank’s guard forces forged her heroic records and the warrant, even stuffing forged memories of encounters into several local martial artists’ memory banks.”

“Our sect leader originally went there and stole many martial artists’ memories to compare the information.

We were also deceived.”

Xiang Shan stroked his chin, “Tch, I thought going undercover was difficult.

If there’s such manpower and resources, even a chatting AI could infiltrate inside the heroes.”

Huang Ouguang defended, “If there had been time to analyze slowly, this method would inevitably show flaws.

But…

our sect truly prioritizes justice, so we couldn’t afford to be too cautious.”

“Unexpectedly, the leader of that armed force, Amilcare Zhao, killed his way back, bringing a whole army to besiege our sect.

I and the Third Senior Brother barely escaped into the wilderness,”

Huang Ouguang spoke softly, “Now, we also don’t know how the others in the sect are doing.”

Xiang Shan stopped what he was doing.

He thought for a moment and said, “Pass me the coordinates to Pine Eagle City.”

“Hm?” Huang Ouguang was puzzled, “Senior?”

“I just remembered, there’s someone in Pine Eagle City I still need to kill,” Xiang Shan said, “Hmm, now that I think about it, there’s another person who trampled on others right in front of me, and yet has not faced any punishment.

This isn’t good, it’s not fair.”

Obviously, Xiang Shan was referring to Mr.

Apennine Zhao.

This Mr.

had indirectly caused Yuki’s mother’s death by allowing Will Grand Duke to hurt people in Recycling Station Town and secretly facilitating the arrival of Lev Scheer with the Silver Transmission Shaft.

Xiang Shan had learned from the memories of other martial artists that this guy’s target seemed to be his, Xiang Shan’s, biological brain.

“Now, with no army or lord in the city, it’s time he paid the price,” Xiang Shan said.